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The Outsider Art Fair is back in Chelsea for its 32nd edition
By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 1, 2024
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By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 1, 2024
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Outsider art, sometimes called art brut, or self-taught art, describes the work of artists who lack formal training or don't identify with any specific school or genre. At its most basic, it's truly art for art's sake.
Since 1993, the best way to explore this sometimes strange, often quite beautiful, and engaging world is at the annual Outsider Art Fair, one of the world's largest and most important exhibitions of self-taught art. The 32nd edition opened on Thursday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea and runs through the weekend.
"It's a really wonderful celebration of how every person can be their own artist," said Quinn Dukes, the gallery manager of Oakland's Creative Growth Art Center, who's in town for the fair. "It's not a traditional mode of making, and you can see that love of creation in our booth and throughout the fair."
At this year’s fair, there are more than 60 exhibitors from all over the world, including nine galleries or collectives here for the first time. As is true at most major art fairs, the exhibition space at the Metropolitan Pavilion doesn't allow for much more than a maze of temporary walls and cubicles.
If you go, don't rush through it. The exhibitors — and sometimes the artists themselves — are on hand, and unlike at other art fairs, they’re willing to chat. The stories behind the works are often as interesting as the art itself.
There's a lot of great stuff at this year’s event, but among the highlights are embroidered portraits by Bronx resident Alexandria Deters — all of which depict female spiritual "cult" leaders who have used their positions of power to abuse, steal and kill.
Other gems include Nubia Ortega's delightful buck-toothed ceramic fish and Georgia Russell's semi-creepy porcelain and cloth "Glamour Dolls," which took the artist up to 400 hours each to complete. (She made all of them after her 60th birthday.) Another delight is Issa Ibrahim's cheeky found-object sculptures, including "Here Comes the Son," with the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus as Beatles fans.
It all makes for an excellent art exhibition, but since this is the Outsider Art Fair, everything is also for sale.
"It's really amazing to have these artists put their work in front of major collectors and gallerists and others who would otherwise never see it,” said Sula Willson, cofounder of North Pole Studios in Portland, Oregon, which is one of 63 exhibitors at the fair.
The Outsider Art Fair runs through Sunday, March 3, at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 West 18th St. Tickets start at $35.
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Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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